A Child of the Lord
by robotsandblankets
Summary: Sam walks back in to the motel's room to find a child sitting on Dean's bed. Of course, he is startled by it, but he remains calms. So he sits on a chair. He decides to wait until Dean gets back. He'll surely know what to do with the kid.
1. Chapter 1

Sam stares at the bed. He is leaned over in his chair, elbows on knees, just staring. He is staring at the thing occupying the bed. His brow is furrowed, and he wants to ask a lot of questions, but he doesn't even know where to start. He decided a few minutes ago that it'd be best to just wait until Dean got back. Dean would probably know what to do.

"Sammy, your stupid-ass salad is the reason I took so freakin' long." Dean says as he walks in. He doesn't notice the bed. He puts the two plastic bags on to the table.

"Dean, this morning, before you left, did you notice anything weird in your bed?" Sam asks like it was totally normal question to ask, as he pulls his bag close to him.

"What are you-" Dean stops mid-sentence when he looks at his motel bed. "Oh, what the hell?"

A little boy, no more than the age of five, was sitting straight up in the bed. His little legs were crossed, and he held his hands together. He didn't have any shoes, but he did have a white tshirt and pajama bottoms on.

Dean points at the kid and looks at Sam. "Who is that? How did he get here?"

"Well I have a theory of one his is. But how he got here? I'm not too sure." Sam says popping the lid of the plastic container. "I walked out of the room, and I locked the door, for some fresh air. When I came back in, he was just sitting there."

"And you didn't ask who he is?"

"I was waiting for you. So you could take the lead on this one."

Dean huffs out a breath of annoyance at his younger brother. He shakes his head then looks to the kid. Dean decides to take the gentle way of getting answers out of the kid.

Dean sits on the edge of Sam's bed, a little far away from the little one. "Okay, kid. What's your name?"

The kid looks at Dean, in awe with a hint of confusion. "You don't remember me."

"Kid, I have never seen you before in my life."

The boy puts his hand on his chest. "I'm Castiel, an angel of the lord, if you don't remember."

Dean looks back at Sam, who had his jaw hanging at the answer. Dean looks back at the little boy.

"Are you sure?" He asks.

The boy rolls his eyes. "Yes, I believe I know who I am."

Dean sits back on to Sam's bed and leans back on to his hands. "Well damn,"

Castiel nods. "Damn, indeed."

Dean points his finger at Castiel, very stern-like. "Don't repeat after me, kid."

Castiel opens his mouth to say something, but leaves his mouth hanging open from confusion.

Sam laughs. Dean even laughs at Castiel's little confused face.

"Anyway," Dean says. "How'd you get like this?"

Castiel looks towards the ground and scrunches his face up. He looks like he is concentrating very hard. "Gabraal," He tries to say. "Gabr-I-ll,"

"Gabriel?" Sam tries to help him.

"Yes, him," Castiel's cheeks heat up and his eyes avert to the bed sheets.

Dean couldn't help but smile at him.

"So Gabriel," Sam says. "He's alive."

"Yes," Castiel says. He starts pushing at his toes. "Father reformed him. He believed it was a good thing to do. I agree."

"So what? Did Gabriel poofed you into a kid for a trick?"

"Not for a trick," Castiel says. "He did it to help me."

"To help you," Dean says. He leans closer, putting his knees on his elbows. "What kind of trouble are you in?"

"I don't know. I only know what Gabr-what Gabe told me. I don't remember much."

"Why did he dump you with us?"

"Well it only makes sense, Dean." Sam says. "We're the only human friends he has, and probably the safest people to be with."

"If I'm going to be trouble, I can go somewhere else."

"Don't be stupid, Cas. We're gonna help you."

"My feet hurt," Castiel says. His hands were still on his little feet.

Dean kneels next to the bed. "Let me look at them."

Castiel pulls his hands back to reveal tiny cut-up feet. There was a bit of dried up blood, too.

"Woah, Cas, why didn't you tell Sam about this?" Dean touches Castiel's feet to fully inspect them. "Sammy, get me something to clean his feet."

"I only started feeling it moments ago." Castiel explains. "I had to walk here."

Sam grabs the necessities and hands them to Dean. He sits beside Castiel, and they watch Dean patches Castiel up.

"Dean, he should be healing himself up." Sam says.

"Well he's not." Dean says. He didn't want to think about why his angel friend wasn't just automatically healing himself. When he's finished, he looks back at Castiel. "Feel better?"

Castiel looks at his toes and wiggles them. "Yeah, thanks, Dean." He smiles.

Dean stands up and goes to his bag of food. "We need to get you some shoes if you going to be small for a while."

"Do you think it's going to be a while before you're big again?" Sam asks.

Castiel nods. "Gabe said it'd be a bit. I've been little for a while anyway."

"How long would you say?"

"Four days,"

"Stop asking him all these questions, Sammy! Come and eat your damn salad."

* * *

Castiel and Dean were sitting on the couch, provided by the motel, watching TV. Sam was taking a shower so he'd be clean for the next few car days they were going to have. Dean was flipping through the channel mindlessly. He wasn't really paying that much attention.

"Wait," Castiel's small voice perked up. He rises up from the couch, to sit up a little straighter. "Go back,"

Dean goes back one.

"Let's watch this." Castiel snuggles back into the couch.

"Oh, come on, Cas. I get that you're in the body of a child, but do you really want to watch this?"

"The red fellow is nice." Castiel says. "I like him."

Dean looks down at Castiel, who was staring at the TV with a faint smile on his face and enchanted eyes. He puts his hand on Castiel's head and ruffles his hair, which earns a pout face from Castiel.

"Alright, little man."

* * *

"I don't understand." Sam says as he looks back at the kid who was occupying the backseat in a booster seat.

"What?" Dean says before biting his doughnut.

"He's sleeping."

"Yeah, well he's a kid, Sammy. They sleep."

"But he's an angel. He shouldn't have to sleep."

Dean glances in the rearview mirror to look at Castiel. His head was lean back against the leather seat with his mouth open. Dean chuckles a bit and looks back to the road.

"Maybe it's the trick, or spell or whatever, Gabriel put on him that's making him act like a normal child. He was watching Sesame Street and enjoying it."

"I think he liked that show before he was small."

They both laugh.

"Don't worry about it too much," Dean says.

"Okay," Sam lets the conversation go and stares out the passenger window.

* * *

Sam flips through the menu. Dean makes faces at Castiel while Castiel giggles and hides his face. Dean knows his probably looks like a dork, but he really couldn't care at this moment.

The brown haired waitress comes over with her notepad and pen in hand. "Are you gentlemen ready?"

"Yes," Dean says. "I'll have a cheeseburger with a side of large fries."

"Alrightly," She says as she jots his order down. She turns her head to Sam. "And you, sir?"

"Tomato soup with cheese bread," He says handing her the menu.

"What about you, little man?" She asks Castiel.

He looks up at the woman, curious.

"Cas, are you hungry?"

Castiel shakes his head.

"Okay, tell me if you get hungry though." She says before she walks away.

"Wait," Castiel says.

She turns around. "Did you change your mind?"

"I saw crayons. Do you have coloring pages?"

"Yes, we do." She smiles. "Would you like one?"

Castiel blushes. "Yeah," He answers her shyly.

The waitress comes back with a coloring page and a couple of crayons.

"Thank you,"

"You're very welcome."

Castiel looks back at the page, and then he looks at Dean and Sam. They were staring at him, almost laughing.

"A coloring sheet?" Sam asks. "Really, Cas?"

"I saw the crayons, and then I had the urge to color." Castiel explains. He sounds confused himself. "I don't know what came over me."

Castiel picks up the blue crayon and starts to fill in the sky.

"Stop judging him, Sammy." Dean says, even though he clearly wanted to laugh. "Maybe we should get him a coloring book."

Castiel gasps and his eyes grow wide. "Will you?"

Dean was only joking, but the look on Castiel's face was too cute. "Yeah, we'll get you one."

"Cool," Castiel pushes himself up on to his knees and leans over the table as he colors.

* * *

 **Thank you for reading.**

 **Please review, follow and/or favorite if you think I should continue.**

 **(I really want to continue.)**


	2. Chapter 2

"Mmuph," Castiel groans.

Dean pats Castiel's back gently. "Shh,"

Dean was carrying the precious cargo while entering the motel's room. Sam was trailing along with all of their bags, and he was having some trouble. He almost trips as he tries to keep the door open while walking through it and not having a free arm.

Dean pulls back the covers on one of the beds and slowly lays Castiel on the bed. He unhooks Castiel's little hand from his shirt. He pulls off the light-up shoes Sam insisted they get him. He pulls the covers back up. Castiel turns on to his side and curls into himself. Dean stood there for a moment, just staring with his arms crossed.

Sam let's all the bags fall on to the floor with a huff of a breath. "Thanks, Dean. You're so helpful."

Dean looks over to Sam. "Huh?"

"Never mind," Sam walks to the second bed in the room and falls on to it. "I'm going to sleep. I can't take it."

Dean chuckles as he watches his baby brother lazily kick off his shoes. Sam was out in a matter of minutes. Dean turns the tiny lamp off and exits the room.

* * *

Dean sat on the ground outside of the motel's room. He had a 6-pack of beer beside him, two of them already empty. Dean stares straight ahead, letting his worry lines run free as he thought.

He thought about Castiel and how with every passing hour he is starting to act like an actual kid. Sure, there are a few tell-signs of Castiel in the body, but he is acting different. He doesn't want to worry about it. He wants to believe that it's just a side effect of whatever, but something is telling him different. Maybe he has been listening to Sammy too much.

Dean shakes his head and takes another sip from the bottle in his hand.

Out of nowhere, a whimper can be heard. Dean leans up and makes his ears go in to full alert mode. The noise sounded like crying to him. When that thought ran through his mind, he stood up quickly and entered the room, leaving behind the bottles he had tipped over.

Dean went to the bed that occupied Castiel. He bends down. With the help of the light coming from the window, he could see the little form in the bed was shaking. Dean puts his hand on the little body.

"Cas, buddy,"

Castiel woke with gasp. He laid there in silence, and then he starts crying. "Dean?"

"Yeah, I'm right here." Dean says in the quietest voice he could muster up.

He rubs his hand over Castiel's head. Castiel grabs Dean's hand and holds it.

"Dean, I'm scared." His voice was so small.

"What are you scared of, buddy?"

"Shadows, the dark," Castiel's voice shakes as he talks.

Put a gun under your pillow, and you'll be fine.

Dean shakes his father's advice out of his head.

Dean rubs his finger over Castiel's hand that is holding on to him so tightly. "You know, Sam and me are right here. There's nothing that's gonna get you."

Castiel sniffles. "But you weren't in here, which made me more scared."

Dean sighs. "I was just right outside the door. How about you go back to sleep? You'll need your energy tomorrow."

"Will you stay in here?" Castiel asks.

"Yeah, I just gotta do something. Okay?"

"Okay,"

Castiel reluctantly lets go of Dean's hand.

Dean quickly grabs the bottles from outside the door. He changes in the bathroom, and kind of washes up. When he walked out of the bathroom, he could see Castiel's body in from the light. He was still shaking.

Dean walks to the bed and gets in. Castiel scoots closer to him, but then suddenly stops. He stops when he was in reaching distance.

Dean gets himself comfortable and closes his eyes. A few seconds later, he feels a tug on his shirt sleeve. He opens one eye and looks down. He sees Castiel's hand holding on to his shirt's sleeve. Dean closes his eyes, not really caring. If it made Castiel feel safe, so be it.

* * *

"Deeean," Castiel says from the back seat. "Deeean,"

Dean smiles to himself as he purposely ignores the little angel. He looks down at the totally cool-guy magazine and continues to read.

"Deeean," Castiel's voice raises a bit. "Deeean, can you hear me?"

Dean has to hold in a chuckle.

"Dean, did you go deaf?"

"You know, as a little tyke, you're a bit talkative."

"I feel it's because my adult-filter is gone." Castiel leans his head against the back of the seat. He looks out the window. "Dean, where's Sam?"

"He is still where he was when you asked that question five minutes ago. The store," Dean says. He closes the magazine and looks at the rearview mirror.

"Oh," Castiel stares at the store. "What's he doing?"

"Getting me and him something to drink,"

"Why don't I get anything to drink?"

Dean scrunches his eyebrows up. "Because you're an angel, and all you'd taste is the molecules anyway." The statement comes out like a question.

"But I'm thirsty."

Dean turns around. "Really?"

Castiel looks at him. "Yeah,"

"Huh,"

Sam opens the impala's door and falls in. He hands Dean the soda drink he wanted, and opens the water he got for himself.

"Cas wants something to drink." Dean says.

Sam groans and looks up at the impala's ceiling. "I just sat down."

"I want juice." Castiel says.

"He wants juice." Dean says.

"He wants juice." Sam says.

"Orange,"

"Orange juice," Dean says.

"Orange juice," Sam says still not getting up.

Castiel looks back out the window. "I think I might die from dehydration."

* * *

"Where are we going?" Castiel groans from the backseat for the fifth time.

"We're going to Bobby's." Sam says.

"How long is it going to take?"

"About five more hours,"

Another groan. "I can't."

Sam looks back and laughs. Castiel was laid out against the window with one foot on the seat and the other hanging normally. He was still staring out the window, up at the sky.

"Dean, I think he is getting a bit antsy."

"Do you want to stop at a gas station and walk around for a minute?" Dean asks the little boy.

Castiel nods. "Yes, pleeease."

* * *

"My legs hurt." Castiel says as he follows Dean inside the gas station.

They left Sam to pump the gas.

"Do some stretches," Dean says as he heads for restroom. "Do some lunges,"

"What's that?"

Dean quickly demonstrates a lunge for him. "Like that,"

"Oh,"

So as they walk to the bathroom, Castiel does lunges the whole way.

After Dean was finished doing his business and after Castiel was finished with asking a million questions about poop, they start walking through the gas station's aisles. Dean stops at the refreshments aisle and begins to eye the products, trying to decide what he wanted and what Sam would like.

"Cas, do you want anything?" He asks.

When he gets no answer, he looks down around at his feet and sees no Castiel. Dean quickly scans the area around him; still Castiel was not in sight.

"Shit," He says. "Cas?"

"Leave me alone,"

Dean instantly recognized the voice. He follows it to the aisle over where he sees a man crouching in front of Castiel, with a hand on his shoulder.

"Step the hell away from him," Dean's voice lowers.

The man stands up with his hands raised. "I was just trying to help the kid."

"I don't care, just go away."

While staring at the man, Castiel backs up and hides behind Dean's leg.

The man looks at Castiel for a minute before walking away.

When he is sure the guy is out of sight, Dean turns around and bends down on a knee to get to Castiel's level.

"Dude, don't walk away like that again. Okay? Yeah, I get that you're still a big boy on the inside but you're a little boy on the outside. And there are some sick bastards that would love to get their hands on you. So it'd be best if you stayed near. Alright?"

Castiel nods. "He lied. He wasn't trying to help. He was trying to make me go with him."

"Yeah, I know that." Dean stands up and looks at the aisle they were in. "Did you want candy or something?"

Castiel looks at the display of candy and nods. "Yeah, I really want Sour Patch Kids."

"Okay, then." Dean grabs a package of the candy. "Let's get something to drink before we go."

They start walking back to the drink aisle.

"Dean, do they make Sour Patch Kids from real kids?" Castiel asks.

"No,"

* * *

 **Thanks for reading.**

 **Please review, follow and/or favorite.**


	3. Chapter 3

From the back seat, Castiel gasps loudly.

"Cas, tell me you did not just spill your juice." Dean says hatefully. He was just ready to get to Bobby's house and sleep, or at least take a nap.

Sam turns his head to look at Castiel. He was just sitting there in his booster seat. Sam didn't see any messes, but Castiel was sitting there with a terrified expression.

"Cas, what's wrong?"

"No," Castiel shakes his head. Little tears began to form from his blue eyes. "No,"

Sam turns around even more, to try and fully face Castiel. "If there's something wrong you gotta tell us, man."

"Dean will get angry at me." He says with the smallest voice.

Sam and Dean share a glance. Sam was hoping that Dean wouldn't get angry at whatever Castiel did, or at least not yell at him. Dean was worried about what Castiel could have done from just the backseat; then it hit him.

"Cas, did you pee?" Dean asks him.

"Y-yeah," Now his little tears rolled down his face freely. "I'm s-sorry, Dean. I thought I could h-hold it."

Dean pulls off on to the side of the road. Sam was waiting for Dean to yell at Castiel about how he should have told him that he needed to pee, but Sam knew that if that had happened Dean would have told him to hold it anyway, and they'd be where there are now.

Dean gets out the car and opens Castiel's door. "Come on,"

Castiel unbuckles himself and slips out.

"Sam, do something with the car seat. I'll help him change."

Sam does as he told.

Dean grabs a bag from the trunk. He pulls Castiel over to the side of the car where no passing cars could see them. Castiel was still crying.

"Cas, you can stop crying. I'm not angry."

"Y-yes, you are."

Dean bends down. "I'm not angry, honest. Now let's get you cleaned up before you smell like pee forever."

Castiel giggles and wipes away his tears. "That's gross."

"Yeah, that's gross."

Dean helps Little Castiel pull his socks and shoes off, then helps with the soaked pants and underwear. He uses a baby wipe, which he is now thankful that Sam picked up, to clean off Castiel's legs. He hands Castiel another one to wipe his business. Castiel picks out underwear and a pair of pajama bottoms to wear. After those were on, Dean helps him put clean socks and his light-up shoes on to his feet.

"Next time just tell one of us if you gotta pee."

Castiel nods. "Okay. I'm sorry, Dean."

"Now stop saying sorry." Dean stands up. "Sammy, you got it?"

"Yeah," Sam says with a surprised tone. "The booster seat came with two padded covers. The makers probably had something like this in mind when they made these."

"Good. Now let's get back on the road, little man."

Dean ruffles Castiel's hair before he ran to Sam so he could help him in the seat.

* * *

"What the hell?" Bobby says as he lets his head rest in his hands.

"That's what I said." Dean says as he leans back in his chair.

"Do you understand how weird this is?"

"Well compared to other things that has happened to us, this is pretty low on the weird list." Sam says honestly.

The men were sitting in the living room. Sam was sitting on the couch, while Bobby and Dean sat on different chairs. Castiel was sitting in the floor with this coloring book, crayons, and juice.

"Why is he drinking juice?" Bobby asks. "He's an angel."

"Well they aren't supposed to pee either but that didn't stop him." Dean says.

Castiel looks up at Dean with an annoyed expression. "I thought we were over that, Dean. You said you weren't angry."

"I'm not angry about it."

"Well then let's not speak about it. That was not one of my most proud moments."

Bobby laughs.

"I have a theory on why Cas can pee and why he wants to drink juice." Sam speaks up.

"Well let's hear it," Bobby says getting annoyed.

Castiel looks towards Sam.

"I think Cas's mind is slowly de-aging as well." Sam says. "I believe that the spell that was put on him couldn't work fully in the beginning because he's an angel. So as time goes on, he'll slowly acquire mannerisms that a human five year old would have."

"I don't wanna be five." Castiel says as he goes back to coloring the page.

Dean sighs dramatically. "Well I don't know about you three, but I am tired."

"If you're planning on staying long, there's a few rooms upstairs that you can camp out in." Bobby says.

Dean stands up and leaves for the bedroom.

"Sam, I wanna watch Elmo." Castiel says.

"I don't think Elmo is on." Sam says. He really was not in the mode for another Sesame Street marathon.

"Check and see,"

Sam lays his head back against the couch, closing his eyes.

"Go on up to bed, Sam." Bobby says. "I'll watch over the little one."

"Thanks, Bobby." Sam says as he goes up the stairs.

Castiel stands up, grabbing his coloring page. He walks to Bobby and hands it to him.

Bobby looks at the blue dog, the yellow barn, and the green grass in the picture. "That's nice, Cas. How about we go hang it on the refrigerator?"

Castiel's eyes light up and he nods. "Yeah, yeah,"

* * *

Dean lazily moves his feet against the ground on his way to the kitchen, where a very beautiful smell was coming from. His already happy mood perks up when he sees Sam, Bobby, and the little baby angel going about their business.

"Dean!" Castiel yells throwing his arms into the air.

"Hiya, Cas." Dean says as he sits beside the kid. He forks a couple pieces of bacon on to the plate that was already laid out, and then spoons some eggs on it, too.

"It turns out Cas really likes bacon." Sam informs Dean.

"Yeah, he does." Bobby says from his seat. "The little poop ate so much of the first batch that before Sam even came down I had to fry up some more."

"I'm not poop." Castiel says trying to act offended but his front falls through and he giggles.

"Dean, when you're finished eating, we can start researching ways to get Castiel back to his former glory." Sam says as he sits back in his chair.

Dean shakes his head while shoveling eggs into his mouth. "I'm not into that."

"Dean, come on."

Persistent Dean shakes his head again. "I feel that you and Bobby could cover that. I could watch after Cas."

Castiel smiles at the idea.

"But that's not hard. It's not like he does anything." Sam argues.

"I color and pee!" Castiel yells at him.

Bobby laughs before speaking. "Fine, Sam and I will be on research duty."

Sam opens his mouth to protest but Bobby raises a finger at him. Dean smiles in triumph.

"But Dean, while you watch after Cas, you can make yourself even more useful. There's a car in the back that needs fixin'. I feel like you can do that as well."

Dean moans. "Alright, I'll do it."

* * *

Castiel was sitting under the hood of a car coloring in another page. A little while in to spending time in the sun, he started complaining about the sun beaming down on him. Dean, in order to make the constant complaining stop, made a little tent for Castiel out of tires and the hood. Dean was lying underneath the raised car working away.

They were going about their business in a silence that's probably only comfortable between two people who are incredibly close. The only noises that could be heard were the random tool-on-tool or tool-on-car noises or the birds that were talking to each other.

For a while Little Castiel was content, he had his coloring book and he had a cup of juice. But then his cup had emptied and his hand started to hurt from coloring. Castiel put the gray crayon back into the box and crossed his arms. He looks towards Dean. He tries to study Dean, like he did when he was bigger, but his little child mind grew bored of that as well. He couldn't concentrate as well as he could before.

"I'm bored." He says finally.

"Oh, are you?"

"Yeah," Castiel stretches his legs out in front of himself and tries to touch his toes.

Dean comes out from underneath the car. He crawls a little ways from the car, and then lies down. Castiel crawls over and lies beside him before he could tell him to. They look up towards the sky. There were a couple clouds rolling by. Dean points to one.

"What does that look like, Cas?"

Castiel looks at the cloud. "A cloud?"

"That looks like a total dinosaur." Dean tells him.

Castiel tries to fully inspect the cloud. He squints his eyes, really trying to make the cloud look like a dinosaur. "But it's a cloud. How could it be a dinosaur?"

"Have some imagination, Cas. Just stare at it. Don't try and make it look like anything."

Castiel looks at Dean, who was staring up at the sky. Castiel watches as Dean's eyes dart across the sky. He watches Dean become completely captivated by the beautiful blue. Castiel looks back towards the sky, and tries to let his imagination let loose as he stares at the cloud.

"Cat," Castiel suddenly says. He points to a cloud over to the right. "That's a cat."

Dean looks over and kind of sees a cat. "Good, man." Dean quickly points to another cloud. "What does that one look like?"

"A truck with a cake on top,"

Dean laughs. "A cake?"

"Yeah, don't you see it?"

"Yeah, I see it."

"That one is Baby."

"Baby?"

"The im-pa-la," Castiel has to sound out the simple word to make sure it sounded right.

Dean nods, and smiles a bit. "Alright, that cloud is Baby."

* * *

"I'm gonna give them these sandwiches, Bobby." Sam says as he's walking towards the back door.

"You better come back! Don't try and leave all this research to me!" Bobby yells.

Sam laughs. "I would never do that!"

Sam exits the house and begins walking towards Dean and Castiel. He passes a few broken cars, a few ripped apart cars, and a couple rickety chairs that have what looks like to be a fire pit near them. Sam slows down when he hears talking. He stops a little ways away from Dean and Castiel when he sees them laying out, and looking up.

"That kind of looks like a dragon," He hears Dean say as he points up.

Castiel gasps. "Yeah, that's a total dragon. Woah!" Then he points at a cloud himself. "That's its baby!"

Sam couldn't help but smile to himself as he watched his brother be all domestic. He never knew that Dean liked watching clouds. Sam realizes what he was here for; he walks forward and speaks up.

"Are you two hungry?" He asks.

Castiel quickly rises up and looks at Sam. He smiles wildly. "Sam!"

"Hey, man."

Castiel switches positions to where he was sitting on his calves and knees; he puts his hands on his thighs. "Dean was teaching me how to look at clouds."

"That's exciting."

"Whatcha bring, Sammy?"

"Turkey sandwiches,"

Sam hands Dean the two paper plates. Dean hands Castiel the sandwich that cut up into fours. Castiel puts the sandwich on the ground, and picks one of the pieces of sandwich up and bites into it.

"This is good." Castiel says mostly to himself.

Sam turns around to let them go back to their cloud watching. He turns back around. "Did you put sun block on you and Cas?"

"Of course, Samantha. I wasn't just gonna let the kid burn up."

"Yeah, Samantha."

Dean and Castiel share a laugh as Sam rolls his eyes in a playful manner then walk away. Before he was out of ear shot he had Castiel yell.

"That one looks like a bird!"

"That is a bird, Cas."

"Oh,"

Sam chuckles to himself.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **Please review, follow, and/or favorite.**


	4. Chapter 4

After eating the sandwiches and lying back down, Castiel had rolled into Dean and put his head on Dean's chest. He was asleep in a matter of seconds. Dean puts his arm behind his own head, with the other hand he starts running his fingers through the thin hair of Castiel.

Dean thinks about the little boy beside him. He thinks about how just last week this kid was an adult with adult feelings and adult problems. Castiel was under a lot of stress when Dean had seen him last. His electric eyes seemed faded almost of color. Even though he didn't need sleep at the time, Castiel looked like he needed a rest.

Dean was secretly happy the angel was magically transformed into a child. He thought it'd give Castiel the time to slow down. He wanted the most important choice Castiel had to choose was between whether he should drink orange or grape juice.

Castiel takes in a stuttered breath, and then his arms pushes against Dean and his legs curled up. Dean looks down at him in time to see his blue eyes open. Castiel looks up at Dean.

"Hello, Dean."

"Hello," Hey says back. "Did you have a nice nap?" He lets his arm stretch out.

Castiel rolls over and stretches, too. When he's finished, he closes his eyes and nods. "Yeah, up until I had a dream about a lake."

"What happened in it?"

"It was scary. I'm trying to decipher it. It was very confusing."

Dean shrugs. "I bet it's nothing."

Castiel rises up and looks towards Bobby's house. "I wanna go check on Bobby and Sam."

"Okay," Dean found it odd that he had this sudden worry about the two guys.

Dean picks up their plates while Castiel gets his juice cup, crayons, and coloring book.

When they enter the house, Castiel drops his stuff and runs in to the room where Bobby and Sam had been cooped up. Dean picks the cup up and pushes the other stuff closer to the wall and out of the way. He trashes the plates and puts the cup in the sink. Dean goes in to the room where everyone else was.

Castiel was sitting next to Bobby very closely with his arm hooked around Bobby's and his head resting on it. Sam looks to Dean and mentally asks him what had happened. Dean shrugs. They decide to drop the subject at the moment.

For the next few hours, Castiel wouldn't leave Bobby's side. He sat next to him while he was researching. Castiel waited outside the bathroom, talking to Bobby through the door. When Bobby started on dinner, Castiel sat in the kitchen with him. He sat at the table and watched Bobby attentively. Bobby didn't mind the short-stack following him, but it was beginning to worry him. The little guy wouldn't really say anything. Mostly he sat there, staring off in to space or looking at Bobby.

Castiel began acting a bit like his usual self after they ate dinner. All four of them sat in the living room watching the television. The television program was semi appropriate for their little tyke, but it didn't matter, he wasn't really paying attention. He had let go of Bobby and moved to sit beside Dean. Castiel sat close while Dean had his arm around him. Castiel was leaned against Dean and was pretty close to falling asleep.

"Dean, Castiel needs to take a bath." Bobby randomly says.

Dean thinks about it. Castiel hadn't had a bath since he was with them, and he wondered if Gabriel had cleaned him.

"Okay," Dean pokes Castiel in the stomach. "Cas, come on, wake up. We gotta go get you clean."

Castiel opens his eyes. "With water?"

"Yeah, with water. That's how people get clean." Dean tells him.

Castiel shakes his head. "I don't think so."

Dean picks Castiel up. "Come on, man. You don't want to be stinky. Do you?"

"I'm pretty fine with it."

Sam holds back a chuckle.

Dean walks up the stairs to his room, where they had kept Castiel's new clothes and stuff. Dean picks a pair of underwear and a pair of pajamas. Castiel was holding on tight to Dean's clothes as they inched closer and closer to the bathroom.

"How about we don't do it, Dean?" Castiel says as he leans back to look at Dean, to try and reason with him. "It's okay to be stinky. It's good for my health."

"I think it's actually bad for your health." Dean says as he sits Castiel down on the sink's counter. He shuts the door then sets the clothes on the counter, too.

"I'm an angel. I think I'd know."

"And I know what people smell like after a couple days without baths." Dean turns the water on. "It's not nice, Cas."

Dean adjusts the water until it's warm but not warm enough to burn the boy. He turns around to help Castiel undress but he was curled around himself and it looked like he wasn't going to move.

"Dean," He says then shakes his head.

"Cas, the bathtub isn't a monster. It's not going to hurt you. Come on, you're a big boy." Dean looks at Castiel's expression, trying to pull it apart and understand it.

"I'm not scared of the bathtub." He says in a quiet voice. He doesn't look up at Dean's eyes. He is too ashamed of this little fear.

Dean thinks about it.

"Is this about the dream you had about the lake?"

Castiel nods.

"You're scared of the water."

"Yeah,"

"What happened in the dream?"

"I-It's hard to explain, because I don't really know. But there was water, a lot of it. Bobby was there and he-" Castiel cuts himself off. He really doesn't want to talk about it.

"Is that why you were hanging around with Bobby all day?"

Castiel nods. "I was scared something was going to happen."

"Cas, it was probably just a nightmare. Some people have them for no reason."

"The water though,"

"I'm going to be in here with you. If you get too scared, we'll take you right out. Okay?"

Castiel looks over to the bathtub filled a little bit with water. He looks to Dean. "Do you promise?"

"Yes, I promise."

Castiel nods.

After undressing him, Dean puts Castiel in the bathtub. Dean tried to make the experience less stressful by telling Castiel stories. Castiel giggles at a few of them. Dean washes Castiel's hair and tells him when he was going to pour the water over his head. Castiel held on to Dean's hand when he did it. Castiel washed himself.

"Okay, it's time to get out." Dean says.

Castiel moves around the bubbles that were still in the water. "I kind of like it in here."

"See, the bath wasn't so bad after all. But you can't stay in there too long."

Castiel looks at Dean with a look of terror on his face. "Why?"

Dean squats down to get on his level. "Because if you do stay in too long, your entire body will turn in to a raisin,"

Castiel gasps. "No,"

"Yep, look at your hands."

Castiel looks at his hands and sees that they had turned wrinkly. "No!" Castiel stands up. "Out, out!"

Dean laughs and grabs a towel. He quickly wraps Castiel up in the towel. He picks him up and stands him up on the toilet lid. Dean reaches over the bathtub and pulls the stopper out of the drain. The water begins to ascend quickly down the drain causing a water gurgling noise. Castiel looks at the drain attentively, and steps a little away.

"Is something trying to come out of it?" He asks.

Dean shakes his head. "No. That's just the sound the drain makes when a lot of water goes down it." Dean laughs for a second. "Sammy was scared of the drain, too, when he was little."

* * *

An hour later, Castiel falls asleep while watching Scooby Doo. He was currently laying his upper body on Bobby's stomach. Dean comes from upstairs with wet hair. After giving Castiel a bath, Dean decided he needed one as well. Sam stands up upon his arrival and goes up the stairs. Apparently, it was bath night in the house.

"He was really tired. Wasn't he?" Dean says as he sits down on the couch.

"Yep. Five minutes into the show, he was already asleep."

Dean looks towards the TV. "The episode looks about over."

Bobby shrugs. "Sam and I got invested in it."

Dean shakes his head and chuckles. Bobby looks at him.

"Did you figure out what was bothering him?"

Dean nods. "Yeah, he had a pretty bad nightmare. He was scared that something was going to happen to you. Also, he was scared of the bath water."

"Huh," Bobby pats Castiel's head as he stirs a bit. "Do you think it was a foretelling nightmare?"

"I told him it was nothing. But I think that was just my hope talking."

Bobby doesn't respond to the sentence. "I think you need to take the little guy up to bed."

"Okay," Dean says as he stands up. "I think I'm going to go ahead and go to bed, too."

Dean picks Castiel up gently and puts him against his chest. Castiel opens his eyes slightly as Dean walks up the stairs and down the hallway. Before they make it to the room that Castiel had been sleeping in, he speaks up.

"Can I sleep with you?" He asks.

"Sure, little man."

Dean enters his room. He puts Castiel down on to the bed. He walks around it and gets in on the other side. Dean pulls the covers around them, and gets comfortable. He lies on his stomach and puts an arm under the pillow. Castiel rolls over and faces Dean. He's eyes were already closed and he was falling fast asleep. Dean closes his eyes, too.

* * *

Castiel takes the stairs one at a time while walking down them. He has one hand on the banister and the other is wrapped around the blanket that he was carrying around with him. It was trailing behind him. The blanket was the one he and Dean slept with. The little guy just woke up from his nap; he was hungry and wanted Elmo.

He looks around the room when he finally gets off the stairs. He walks in to the living room. It was empty which surprised him.

"Bobby," He says aloud as he walks in to the kitchen. Bobby wasn't in there.

"Sam," He says as he walks in to Bobby's room full of books. Sam wasn't in there either.

Castiel runs back in to the living room. He looks through the window to try and spot Baby, but he couldn't. "Dean! Bobby! Sam!"

When he got no answer, Castiel began to really panic. He lets go of the blanket and puts his finger nails in his mouth. Maybe they were just hiding from him, he thought. Castiel runs to the couch and stands up on it. He looks behind the couch.

"Sam!"

When he didn't see Sam there, Castiel slides off and walks to the downstairs bathroom. He knocks on the door.

"Bobby!"

Castiel reaches up and turns the knob. The door opens to reveal that Bobby wasn't there.

"Dean! Dean!"

Castiel stands in the middle of the kitchen, in his blue pajamas, when the sinking feeling starts to set in. His mind began to race with reasons why they would leave him behind. Maybe they forgot about him. Maybe they realized how much trouble Castiel was and thought it was best just to leave to his own devices. But Castiel doesn't know how to fry bacon. He doesn't know how to use the bathroom properly. Castiel begins to hyperventilate and big tears slipped down his face. He wipes the tears away but they were quickly replaced. He tries to believe that his friends wouldn't leave him, that they actually care about him, but being in the empty house wasn't helping him convince himself.

Clink

Castiel looks towards the back door. His eyes grow wide. He runs towards the door and pushes it open. He stands on the porch, listening with his eyes closed. He tries to kick in to his hypersensitive hearing. A few seconds later he hears another clink and a sonofabitch. Castiel jumps off the porch and begins running.

"Dean!" Castiel's sob filled voice knocks Dean out of his concentration. "Dean! Dean!"

Dean pushes himself from under the car. "Cas!"

He looks towards the house to see the little boy running at him full speed.

"Dean!" Castiel runs in to him at full force almost making Dean fall right on to his back.

Dean wraps his arms around the shaking and crying kid. "Cas, what's wrong? Did you have a bad dream?"

Castiel wraps his arms around Dean's neck and his legs around Dean's waist. He wants to make sure that Dean wouldn't be able to leave him. "Dean," His voice was shaking.

"Cas, come on, buddy. You gotta tell me what's wrong."

"I…thought," Castiel wasn't able to speak. He was out of breath, and he couldn't think of how to string words together that would make sense. Dean tries to pull Castiel back so he could look at his face, but Castiel pulls himself tighter. "No,"

"Cas, I'm not gonna let go. But let me look at you."

Castiel leans back. He exchanges his tight hug around Dean for two hands clutching Dean's tshirt material. He hiccups.

Dean reaches up and pushes Castiel's hair out of his face. He wipes a couple tears away. "Cas, breathe. Cas, you gotta breathe." Dean demonstrates normal breathing for Castiel.

Castiel tries to copy the breathing. A minute later, Castiel was breathing normally and his sobs had subsided.

"Okay, little man. Tell me what's got you so scared."

"When I called for you, Sam, and Bobby nobody answered." Castiel's voice still shook. "I looked for Baby, but I couldn't find her. I thought you left me."

"Cas, man, why would you think we'd just get up and leave you?" Dean felt awful for leaving Castiel in the house alone. He had completely forgotten about Bobby and Sam leaving to get groceries when he came outside to work on the car.

"Because I'm hard to take care of," Castiel looks Dean in the eyes. His body was still shuttering from his sobs.

"Don't think like that." Dean pulls Castiel in to another hug.

Dean stands up and walks towards the house.

"I wouldn't leave you alone, Cas."

Castiel puts his head on Dean's shoulder. "Do you promise?"

"I promise." Dean says.

Dean enters the house and goes to the living room. He sits Castiel on the couch. He takes the blanket from the middle of the room and puts it on him. Castiel watches his every move, making sure he wouldn't run away.

"Are you hungry?" Dean asks as he turns the TV on. He switches to the channel that was known to play Sesame Street. Luckily, it was on.

"Yeah,"

Dean walks in to the kitchen. He pours the milk that was left in to a Sippy cup. Castiel has yet to comprehend cups. Dean quickly cuts up an apple, and then walks back in to the living room.

Dean sits beside Castiel. He hands him the cup, which Castiel starts drinking immediately. He hands him an apple piece.

"Here, little guy."

Castiel bites a piece off then leans against Dean. Dean moves his arm to put it around Castiel. He rubs the little boy's arm.

"I'm sorry for scaring you."

Castiel doesn't verbally respond because he is already too immersed in to Sesame Street, but he does burrow himself further into Dean's side.

When Bobby and Sam walk in an hour later, Castiel and Dean had changed positions. Dean was lying on the couch with his head turn towards the TV. Castiel's body was half tucked in to the couch and the other half was lying on top of Dean. His head was on Dean's shoulder and his eyes were glued to the TV. Dean was running his hand through Castiel's hair.

Dean glances over to the door when he notices them. "Hey, guys."

"Bobby," Castiel says quietly. He reaches a hand out.

Bobby walks up and holds Castiel's hand. "Hey, buddy."

Castiel doesn't say anything. He just looks at Bobby for a long time, going over him with his eyes, making sure he was really there. When he sure that this was the real Bobby, Castiel lets his hand go. He does the same with Sam.

"See, Cas. They came back. No one is going to leave you." Dean says quietly to the little boy.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading!**

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 **Chapter Five might take a while to update. Just a btdubbs.**


	5. Chapter 5

"Cas, look what we got you." Sam says sitting beside Castiel on the floor.

Castiel looks up from his coloring book. "Did you get me another coloring book? I've almost finished this one."

"Nope, it's better."

Castiel raises his eyebrows. He wonders what could possibly be better than another coloring book. Sam pulls a plastic Wal-Mart bag out from behind him. Castiel leans over to look in to the bag. Sam pulls out three boxes. Castiel gasps.

"Woah," He pushes on to his knees. "You got me cars!"

"Yep," Sam hands one to Castiel. "Can you guess where they came from?"

Castiel looks at the van in the box. "It's the Scooby Van!"

"What about this one?" Sam hands him another.

"Bumblebee!" Castiel yells. He had watched _Transformers_ two days ago and could not get enough of it. "What's the other one?"

Sam handed the last one to him, knowing he was going to freak out more than he did for Bumblebee.

Castiel looks at the car. He didn't know what it was straight away. He studies the car very intently, and then it hits him. Castiel's eyes grow wide. He stands up and runs in to the room full of books where Dean was sitting.

"Dean! Dean! Look!" Castiel runs up to him. Castiel holds the car box out in his hand towards Dean. "Baby!"

Dean looks at the toy car and smiles. "Woah, that looks exactly like Baby."

"Sam got it for me. Can you believe it? It's a small Baby!" Castiel does a little dance, which was actually just him stomping his feet. Castiel grabs Dean's hand; he starts pulling him towards the living room. "Let's go play with the others."

Dean laughs as he stands up, following after Castiel. "Okay, little man."

After unboxing the cars, Castiel and Dean pick their cars. Sam chose to be the announcer.

"Oh and here comes Castiel, in the Scooby Van, zipping by Dean, in the Impala." Sam says as he follows the action.

Castiel was running around the course that they had built while Dean had to crawl around, clearly Castiel had the advantage.

"Cas is so close to the finished line! He can almost taste it, folks!" Sam stands up and points to the little finish line.

Castiel looks behind him and sees Dean edging closer. He knew he couldn't make it to the finish line by just running. Castiel lays flat on his stomach and pushes the car off. The Scooby Van goes by the finish line a second before the Impala could.

"Castiel wins!"

Castiel stands up and jumps around. "Woo! Who's the best? I'm the best!"

Sam runs by and picks Castiel up. He starts dancing around with him, hopping from one foot to the other. "Cas is the best!"

Dean chuckles as he stands up. "I can't believe the darn Scooby Van beat my Baby."

"It's not about the car, Dean. It's about the driver, and I'm the best!" Castiel throws his fists up in to the air in victory.

"Alright, alright, I think you're letting your little win go to your head."

Sam puts Castiel down while laughing.

"You're just sad that you lost." Castiel says giggling.

Castiel abruptly stops laughing. He's expression changes from a look of joy to a look of concentration. Dean notices immediately. Dean bends down in front of him.

"Cas, what is it?" He asks, looking all over the kid's face to get a fill for what he was thinking.

"Something has changed." Castiel says. He looks around the room. "I hear something."

Dean looks back at Sam. "Do you hear anything?"

Sam shakes his head then asks. "What does it sound like?"

"A voice," Castiel says. He grips the Scooby Van tightly in his hand. "An angel,"

"Hello, fellas."

Dean and Sam turn around to find Gabriel sitting on the couch. He was leaned back with his right foot resting on his left knee.

"Gabe!" Castiel pushes pass Sam to Gabriel. He climbs on to the couch and hugs him.

"Hey, little brother." Gabriel smiles as he returns the hug.

Castiel lets go and sits beside him. Gabriel looks down at him.

"You know, I've been trying to reach you through the Angel Radio for the past two days."

"I only started hearing it." Castiel puts his hand close to Gabriel's face. "Look what Sam got me! It's the Scooby Van. Isn't it cool?"

"Yeah, that's awesome, man." Gabriel looks to Sam and Dean who moved to sit in chairs. "Boys, I've come warn you about the upcoming days."

Dean glances at Sam and Castiel. "What's supposed to happen?"

"Well, recently, word has gotten out that there is a little baby angel running around on Earth." Gabriel begins. "And to demons, baby angels are a delicacy. One hasn't been made for millions of years."

"So demons are gonna try and get Cas." Dean says leaning up on to his knees with this elbows.

"That's what seems to be happening." Gabriel looks at Castiel.

Castiel looks towards the ground and crosses his arms. "Mmmph,"

Gabriel puts his hand on Castiel's back. "You alright?"

"That's what he does when he's nervous." Sam says.

"Is there anything else we need to know?" Dean asks.

"No, I don't believe so." Gabriel shakes his head.

Castiel slips off the couch. "I'll be back." He runs towards the stairs before he has to take each step one-by-one.

When Gabriel sees Castiel's foot lift off the last step, he leans forward. "Has he shown any signs of angelness?" He asks.

Sam shakes his head. "No, he actually seems to be more like an actual human kid more and more every day. He is eating. He really likes TV and coloring."

"That's what I was afraid of." Gabriel says. He takes a breath. "It seems that the little spell I put on Castiel is working too well. He was only supposed to be a kid for a few days."

"He's been a kid for almost two weeks." Dean says.

"I know that. I'm getting close to finding the reverse spell. It'll probably just take me a couple more days."

"Why did Cas need to be turned in to a kid in the first place?" Dean asks.

"He didn't tell you." Gabriel says looking at Sam and Dean.

"Tell us what?" Sam was leaning over on to his knees.

"You know how Castiel is not the best at making choices?" Gabriel begins. "Well some of our angel brothers and sisters are showing resentment towards my baby brother. They were walking all over him, and he was just letting them. Up there," He points us. "It's like high school, but worse, because you can't go home to escape it all. Dear Ole Dad told me to take Castiel away for a while so he could settle everything upstairs."

"So your brothers and sisters are just being pissy." Dean says.

"Pretty much,"

"But why couldn't Castiel be up there while all of this settling is going down?" Sam asks.

"It got too much for him. I'm not even sure if he remembers any of it right now." Gabriel says then he shrugs. "Also, something else is happening."

"What-"

"Gabe, look what I colored yesterday." Castiel says as he starts his descend down the stairs.

Gabriel quickly snaps his fingers and then Castiel was sitting beside him.

Castiel huffs out a breath. "Well that was easier."

Gabriel sits up and looks at Castiel's hand. "Is that a rainbow platypus?"

"Yeah!" Castiel holds it out towards him. "I colored it for you because I know you like them, and you always said that rainbows were the coolest."

"Thank you, baby brother." Gabriel says as he takes it from him.

"Are you sure you like it?" Castiel asks. He looks up at his big brother with wide eyes.

"It's real cool." Gabriel folds the paper in half two times. "I'll keep it in my back pocket for safe keeping. So it's always with me."

"Okay,"

Gabriel stands up. "Well, losers, I've gotta bolt. I have angel duties to attend to and what not." He points to Sam and Dean. "Keep him safe."

* * *

Castiel looks at the trees as they pass by quickly. He tries to count the cars that go by, too. Dean is gripping the steering wheel lightly. He was leaning back in the bench seat comfortably. Dean didn't know how to explain it but being around child Castiel brought a sense of calm around him. He could think clearly and breathing seemed easier. Castiel felt this when he was around Dean, too. Dean thought it was because Castiel was an angel and that baby angels just had the power to do that. Castiel thought it was because Dean was his best friend in the whole world.

The radio station ends the transition in to the next song. Dean, instantly knowing the song by the simple guitar intro, turns the volume up. The song fills the car even more than it did before. Castiel swings to the music a bit, rocking side to side in his car seat. Dean glances in to the rear view mirror and grins.

"Do you like the song, Cas?"

"Yeah," Castiel answers as he stares out the window while swinging side to side. "What song is this anyway?"

"Peace of Mind by Boston," Dean says before singing along.

Castiel shifts his eyes from the window to Dean. It was always a rare occasion to actually hear Dean Winchester sing. Castiel watches and listens intently so he can replay this moment when things get bad.

* * *

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